


Exodus 21:16

by WhyWhyNot



Series: Three Wise Monkeys [30]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Gen, Human Trafficking, Kidnapping, Self-Defense, implied/referenced Spider-Man's socks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-02-09 08:03:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyWhyNot/pseuds/WhyWhyNot
Summary: Santino saves the day





	1. Chapter 1

"Lies and slanders! Captain America is the best! He punched Hitler in the face!  
\- For fuck sake, Luis, he didn't! It's just comic propaganda! And anyway, Black Widow is way better.  
\- I still prefer the Devil."

Luis and Ana, the twins from 2B, give him identical exasperated looks. 

"Santino, the Devil isn't an Avenger!  
\- I know! But he's still cooler!  
\- Of course he is! _Everyone_ with _sense_ can see that! But he's not an Avenger, so he can't be your favorite _Avenger_."

Luis snorts. 

"We all know Santino's favorite is Spider-Man.  
\- Not anymore!  
\- Why not?  
\- His socks are smelly!"

Before either Ana or Luis can comment on this affirmation, they turn the corner of the street and a man points a gun to Ana's head.

\---

They're sitting inside a container, and Ana is trying to calm Luis who cries quietly. The man is standing inside with the gun in his hand.

(Santino trusts Matt, he really does. He wasn't lying whe he said he's the best. But he also _knows_ him, fed him pie when he screamed and cried for people he couldn't save, people for whom he was too late, people he didn't heard or had to chose between. Matt does his best, but he's only _human_.)

Santino needs to get them out of there, or at least to make sure Matt will come. But the man was clever, took their bags and phones and made them empty their pocket. 

(Santino is wearing his special jacket, the one Melvin made him which can stop low calibre from a distance. The one with the razorblade hidden in the hem, which the man didn't found.)

They need to distract the guard long enough to disable him.

(Santino can't afford to pay for self-defense lessons, but he knows the Devil, and Matt taught him a few moves. Nothing fancy, but if he can just get an _opening_...)

Santino let the razorblade fall in his hand, and stand, and says he needs to pee. It's not a lie.

( _Something I learned when I was twelve, Santino, is, looking helpless is a **weapon**. Let them understimate you, use every trick you can to appear harmless. There's no honor in a fight, no shame in begging if you're planning to break their arm, no shame in hitting them first or from behind or while they're **down**. Win first, and then **don't apologize** , because the only thing that matters is that you get out. Save your pride for victory and death._

Santino purposely relaxes his bladder, and when hot piss pours down his legs, he feels no shame, because the guard relaxed for a second with a mix of disgust and disdain. 

(His trachea _crushes_ under Santino's hand, the tendons behind his knees _splits_ easily under the blade.)

The man falls, and Santino scrambles through his pockets to find his phone.

(Matt's number is in his phone, but Claire made sure he remembers the Devil's and Raphael's _by heart_. Just in case.)

They're a little out of Hell's Kitchen. Their kidnappers probably hoped it would keep the Devil of their back.

(They took children in Hell's Kitchen. The Devil would have come, in the end, even if Santino hadn't been one of them.)

Santino calls Matt, and the Devil comes.

(Later, when the shock and horror have dissolved a little, when they're safely sitting on Matt's couch qith a slice of Apple pie, he feels a swirl of _pride_ at the bottom of his stomach.)

He did it. He saved them.

He saved himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Shipping Container


End file.
